Category Archives: Coronavirus

Most emergency patients in NSW seen within 30 minutes during Omicron outbreak, report suggests

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NSW Health secretary says emergency departments remain under significant pressure due to high Covid-19 and flu cases

During the peak of the Omicron outbreak the majority of emergency department patients in New South Wales were seen within 30 minutes, a new report from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) has revealed.

The report, which covers the period of January to March 2022, looks at how the health system coped with the thousands of daily Covid cases during the Omicron wave.

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Australia news live updates: Queensland on brink of power outage as eastern states battle big chill; WA to shut state-owned coal plants

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Penny Wong to visit New Zealand foreign minister; at least 31 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Lack of reserve notice from energy regulator

It’s going to be a long day by the looks of it when it comes to “lack of reserve” notices and intervention by the Australian Energy Market Operator, such as this early one in NSW:

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Beijing in ‘race against time’ to tackle serious Covid outbreak

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Latest batch of at least 287 cases has raised new worries about outlook for Chinese economy

Authorities in Beijing have warned that a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases linked to a 24-hour bar was critical and the city of 22 million people was in a “race against time” to get to grips with its most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.

The flare-up means millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs intended to tackle a broader outbreak since late April.

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Sacking of Melbourne worker homeschooling children found to be discriminatory

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Tribunal finds dental assistant was unlawfully discriminated against during Victoria’s Covid restrictions

A Melbourne dental assistant has been awarded $12,000 after she was sacked during the Covid-19 pandemic while forced to homeschool her children.

Fiona Carpenter took her former employer Pearly Whites to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, claiming she was discriminated against because of her family responsibilities and a broken foot.

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Rolling Stones cancel Amsterdam show after Mick Jagger tests positive for Covid

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Singer, 78, developed symptoms as he arrived in Dutch capital for Sixty tour, which includes dates in England

Sir Mick Jagger has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the Rolling Stones to cancel their show in Amsterdam on Monday.

The singer, 78, began to develop symptoms as he arrived at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the Dutch capital earlier in the day.

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‘Ferocious’ Covid outbreak in Beijing traced to raucous bar

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Cluster comes a week after city eased restrictions, raising fresh concerns over ‘zero Covid’ policy and economy

Authorities in Beijing are racing to contain a Covid outbreak traced to a 24-hour bar known for cheap liquor and big crowds, with millions of people facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns.

The outbreak of 228 cases linked to the Heaven Supermarket bar, which had just reopened as curbs in the Chinese capital eased last week, highlights how difficult it will be for China to make a success of its “zero Covid” policy as much of the rest of the world tries to live with the virus.

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Four in 10 pandemic-era mutual aid groups still active, UK data suggests

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Groups set up to help out neighbours in 2020 are now helping people cope with cost of living, say campaigners

Four in 10 of the mutual aid groups that were set up at the start of the pandemic to make it easier for neighbours to help each other are still active and many have become established charities helping local people cope with the cost of living crisis, analysis suggests.

When the pandemic began, an estimated 4,000 mutual aid groups sprang up to offer assistance to those in need with a range of essential activities, from food shopping to collecting prescriptions and providing Covid information.

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Health experts dominate Australia’s Queen’s birthday honours for work during pandemic

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Brendan Murphy, Kerry Chant, Jeannette Young and Mary-Louise McLaws among recipients recognised for their work on Covid

A Covid honour roll has again dominated the Queen’s birthday honours list, with former chief health officer Dr Brendan Murphy appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), one of 92 people who have been recognised for their work during the pandemic.

The New South Wales chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, was awarded an AO for “distinguished service to the people of NSW through public health administration and governance, and to medicine”.

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Australia’s monthly flu cases more than doubled previous record in May

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Experts say the world will be watching as the country becomes one of the first to experience Covid and a simultaneous influenza season spike

Australia has had its worst May on record when it comes to flu cases, prompting experts to warn this season will redefine what it means to be ready for the virus.

The national disease surveillance system reported about 65,770 confirmed influenza cases in May – more than double the month’s previous record, which was set in 2019.

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Australia’s aged care homes urged to speed up fourth-dose Covid boosters as outbreaks and deaths rise

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Federal ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells warn providers with low vaccination rates will have to explain themselves

Ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells have told aged care providers to act “with a sense of urgency” and speed up their fourth-dose Covid vaccinations as the sector continues to grapple with almost 700 outbreaks and a growing death toll.

The aged care ministers have also warned providers with low vaccination rates they would be required to explain themselves and show how they would turn around sluggish booster rates.

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China calls theory that Covid originated in Chinese lab ‘politically motivated lie’

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WHO report has said origins of virus are still unknown and recommended further investigation

China has repeated its assertion the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic began with a leak from a Chinese laboratory is “a politically motivated lie”, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended continued investigations this week.

“The lab leak theory is totally a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing on Friday.

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Labor says Dutton ‘desperate’ to distract from defence failures – as it happened

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Nadesalingam family arrive back home to Biloela; New Zealand ‘heartened’ by Albanese government’s climate stance; Australia records at least 40 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Jacinda Ardern will be raising Australia’s controversial deportation policy in today’s meeting. Asked if she has knowledge of whether the government is prepared to “water it down a little bit”, she replies:

Just to be clear, the issue we have is not with deportation. We deport as well. If a New Zealander comes to Australia and commits a crime, send them home ... but when someone comes here and essentially, hasn’t even really had any connection with New Zealand at all ... have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand, that’s where we’ve had the grievance.

I’ve heard the prime minister prior to winning the election speak to his acknowledgement that that is the part of the policy that we’ve taken issue with. Even that acknowledgement says to me he’s hearing us, he knows it’s a problem.

It’s been a bugbear for us for a long time so I would like to see movement on it.

We talked about music on occasion but I’m not sure I would’ve picked necessarily the right music if I think I was given that task.

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UK employers take on workers at slower rate after fall in applicants

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Shortage of candidates since January means thousands of vacancies unfilled

UK employers increased the number of new staff in May at the slowest pace since early 2021 after a steep fall in the number of workers responding to job adverts.

After an increase in job switching by workers last year, often to secure higher pay, employers said the shortage of candidates since January meant they were unable to fill thousands of vacancies.

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Xi Jinping says ‘persistence is victory’ as Covid restrictions return to Shanghai and Beijing

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Both cities back on high alert, with new lockdowns in Shanghai , and the shutdown of entertainment venues in Beijing

Xi Jinping has reiterated China’s commitment to zero-Covid, declaring “persistence is victory”, as Shanghai and Beijing were hit with new lockdowns, shutdowns, and mass testing drives just a week after the cities celebrated the easing of restrictions.

In response to China’s worst outbreak of the pandemic, Shanghai spent months under an arduous and strict citywide lockdown, while Beijing authorities imposed localised lockdowns, venue and public transport shutdowns, and work-from-home orders. In the last week both had begun easing restrictions, with authorities praising the containment of the community outbreaks of the Omicron variant.

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Shanghai to lock down 2.7 million, a week after easing Covid restrictions

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District of Minhang to be closed on Saturday for mass testing, sparking fears the lockdown could be prolonged if cases found

Shanghai will lock down a district of 2.7 million people on Saturday to conduct mass coronavirus testing, city authorities said, as the Chinese metropolis struggles to fully emerge from punishing curbs.

The city eased many restrictions last week, after confining most of its 25 million residents to their homes since March as China battled its worst Covid outbreak in two years.

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Five Eyes must ramp up fight against rising organised crime, AFP commissioner warns

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Pandemic has contributed to ‘destabilisation of world order’ leading to weaponisation of technology, Reece Kershaw says

The Australian federal police commissioner has urged his Five Eyes counterparts to ramp up the fight against organised crime, declaring the pandemic has fuelled “the destabilisation of the world order”.

Reece Kershaw issued a rallying call for closer coordination on law enforcement as he addressed colleagues from the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand, who have been visiting Australia for talks since Monday.

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Japan to let in foreign tourists, but only if masked and accompanied by chaperone

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Visitors from select countries will be allowed to return to Japan from Friday but will only be allowed to travel under strict conditions

Foreign tourists visiting Japan will be required to wear masks and spend their entire stay chaperoned by local guides, as the country prepares to open up to international travellers after two years of Covid-19 border restrictions.

People who have waited patiently for the chance to visit Japan, which imposed some of the toughest travel restrictions during the pandemic, will also have to take out private medical insurance in case they contract the virus, the government said this week.

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Boris Johnson no-confidence vote: prime minister wins by 211 to 148 but 40% of Tory MPs fail to back him – live

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Vote means he will remain as Conservative leader and PM

This is from my colleague Aubrey Allegretti explaining how the no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson will be carried out.

Boris Johnson welcomes the chance to make his case to MPs, Downing Street claims. In a statement a No 10 spokesperson said:

Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities. The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force.

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Covid fraud: how bounce back loans paid for cars, watches and even porn

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As details emerge, concerns grow about Treasury’s efforts to recover almost £5bn wrongly claimed

When Keith Hamblett, a fruit and vegetable seller from Tyne and Wear, asked his bank for a government-backed loan in the autumn of 2020, the economy was still in trouble after lockdowns, and coronavirus cases were rising.

The Covid bounce back loan scheme was a welcome relief for many smaller companies, and Hamblett received £28,000.

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Alexander Litvinenko assassination suspect dies of Covid

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Dmitry Kovtun was one of two Russian men accused over poisoning death of ex-spy in London in 2006

Dmitry Kovtun, one of the two Russian men accused of assassinating the former spy and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London, died of Covid in a Moscow hospital on Saturday.

Litvinenko died in 2006, weeks after drinking tea laced with the radioactive isotope polonium 210 at a London hotel, where he met Kovtun and the other suspect, Andrei Lugovoi. The case has since weighed on relations between Britain and Russia.

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